Triggering a passenger protection arrangement as a function of a differentiation of a so-called AZT (Alliance Center for Technology) and an ODE crash is discussed, for example, in German patent document DE 10 2005 035 415 A1. These crash types are defined in the document indicated. The differentiation is performed by evaluating acceleration signals and environment signals. Both central signals and signals from acceleration sensors disposed in the vehicle side may be used as acceleration signals.